Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-27
TYPESETTING MACHINE
which VIII ReyclutEonIze the Art OF
Printing, IL IL VIII Accomplish ALI
That is Claimed for il.
stiIson Hutchins Compares 1T to the Discov
cry of Steam and the Electric Current
An Interesting Description.
Interview in the Washington Critic.

Interview IN the Washington Critic.
$50 this is the grest typographical ma
chine there's been SO much talk sbout?"
ssid Critic reporter this morning, in an
irterrogative sort of way, as he stood
watching the wonderful movement of the
linotype" at the rooms Of the company
in the Post building. "I would like TO
know something Of the history Of this in
fsnt phenomenon, and whether it will
really do al the remarkable things that
are claimed for it?"
These remarks were addressed to Mr..
Stjlson Hutchins, who CHANGED TO be pass
iug, and he replied with impressive en-
p1asi;:
Eyes, you can put il down in your note
hook that the half has not been told of
the possibilities OF this invention, or OF
ms ultimate ami not far Of distant effect
upon the ert of printing. It will be in
the nature Of revolution, comparable
1 onlY, as I believe, to the discovery Of
/ steam and the electric current. But step
| into the Tressurer'S office next door and
1 will tell you all you want TO know. /
shall be pleased TO have the publishers of
newspapers. as well as job printers, know
what they're coming ton
"WelI, sir, before proceeding TO con-
slider the merits Of the machine, can you
give me something about its origin, AID
tle various syndicateS that have been
organized 70 make il g success, and bring
il before the people? The general pub
lie would no doubt like TO be Informed
on this subject" suggested the Critic
reporter
ITO 90 back TO the beginning then,"
said Mr. HutChins, 81 may say that I
have been giving the mGtter mucn atten-
tion-in fGct, almost constant attention
for some years past. l had long thought
that lsb0r-ssvlng machinery, as applied
10 type-setting, Was as practicable as
II has proved TO be in it's application TO
the printing press; at least, lthaG it YVES
cutie as sure TO come, sooner or later, al
though most OF the attempts in this d.
rection bad hitherto been somewhat
crude and imperfect, mainly because they
proceed upon wrong hasis-thst of at
tempting to manipulate the individual
type.
at has never, perhaps. occurred to you
thst of all the mechanical hsndicratts,
that Of type-Comp0sitiop, Or type-setting,
has made the least advance. The COM
positors on the Gutenberg Bible used
through the same motions that your
cOmpCsitors do row in setting up the
Critic The printers who work for the
AppletOns and HsrpeTs perform the same
long and tedious manipulations-type by
type, stickfGl;by stickful-that their pre-
decessors did for the EziViTs, the Cax-
toIs and other early English publishers.
IN fact, there has been no perceptible i'd
vance in $50 years. Only at very recent
date has inventive genius been stimulated
in this direction by the energiZing spirit
Of progress and competition. But when
it did start it never stopped till it wrought
genuine miracle and here you see it,"
"The linotype?" queried the reporter.
EXACTLY So" said Mr.. ButchIns.
Glow long have you been associsted
with this immediate enterprige?" was the
reporters Il, Y interrogstOry.
at is about four years since l saw the
first working machine, and, as far as that
YVES from the present machine, l was con-
WINGED at once that the men who had hold
OF il were on the right track. So I in
vested rather largely In the proiect-some
of my friends may nave thought rashly-
out / am well satisfied with the outcome.
My expectations have been more than
realized"
"Many improvements since you became
connected with n?"
"0n, yes; many and most essential |
ones. The last three years have been |
years of great activity and continued de-
VelOpment in the history of the machine. |
The improvements that have been added |
are Of such variety and value that scarce
ly anything of the original device is left, |
except the general principles of it's opera |
ton. The old has been submerged, as !
one might say, in the new and perfected |
mechanism. It's progress is q notable |
illustration Of the doctrine Of evolution"
"Whose improvements are they?"
"Quite number, perhaps g score, of |
skilled inventors and expert mechsnicians |
have had hand in this thing, but it is |
generally conceded that Mr.. Mergentha- |
Ter is entitled to the principal credit for |
making the machine what it now is, in |
the nicely, precision and comprehensive
ness Of it's movements"
"Can you tell me, briefly, Mr.. Hutch
ms, what the special advantages of the |
MergenthGler machine are?"
at increases, or rather raises, the unit |
Of type composition from letter or space |
to line. Is that brief enough2 In other |
words, with this machine as now oper-
ated, or as many claim not even yet per-
fected, it costs no more in time or money |
to set line than it does by hand compo-
sition to set q word; and corrections, in |
case Of error, are rsteably just as easily |
made, and st no more expense than IN
der the present system. And there is |
further saving to be taken into considera-
ton. It costs much less in proportion |
With this machine to set q line Of book |
measure-seventy- five to 100 ems in
Tidth-thsn of s line of the width OF the
narrow column of the Post-ssy twenty |
five ems"
"What is your estimate of the capacity
OF the machine?"
"The limit Of IFS capacity" said Mr.
Hutchins, sis its casting speed-that is,
the speed with which it casts or produces |
line oftype. Ii can cast an average OF
six lines minute, but an expert menip- |
ulstor OF the keys can assemble, or, as a
compositor would say, set more thsn SIX
lines minute. Still, six lines minute, |
of average width, are equal to $50 ems, or |
10000 ems an hour, and such rate of |
speed will do"
IgWb.+ - Tho ratio ~ spaaS of bso5 /